The naira weakened significantly against the dollar at the parallel market yesterday, dropping to a record low of N982/$1 from N962 per dollar on Tuesday, accord- ing to traders. New Telegraph learnt that the naira’s weakness is being exacerbated by the worsening foreign exchange scarcity in the country as traders at the parallel market complained about the acute lack of dollars in the system.

However, the local currency appreciated to N770.71 per dollar at the Investors and Exporters’ (I&E) window yesterday, compared with N776.60 per dollar on Tuesday, data obtained from FMDQ Exchange shows. Naira volatility has not abated since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) abolished its currency peg and adopted the willing buyer/willing seller arrangement on June 14, thus resulting in the unification of its multiple exchange rates.

Recently, the Acting Governor of the CBN, Mr. Folashodun Shonubi, was reported as saying that banks and the apex bank are working to clear the estimated $10 billion backlog of foreign exchange in the country. He said: “There are various banks that are working with the CBN to clear the backlog in various structures. We would clear the backlogs in the next one to two weeks.

“As a matter of fact, there’s a large amount of the obligations that the banks in Nigeria have already taken on. What happened was at maturity, they actually made the financing available for those who needed to use it, the importers. We are discussing, so we can structure their role so that’s very different.

“Then there are some customers who still have their obligations and are part of the restructuring with the banks in Nigeria. To also clear that backlog is something we have been discussing for a while.”